Lower Columbia’s Tommia Pakootas and Danica Schmidt combined for 47 points and the Red Devils put away Centralia College, 71-54, on Tuesday in NWAC West Region women’s basketball action in Longview.
Pakootas went 9 of 11 from the three-point arc to score 27 points, and Danica Schmidt was 10 of 15 from the floor for 20 points with 11 rebounds.
“We knew coming in that Pakootas was one of the best shooters I’ve seen in my time here at Centralia College,” Blazers coach Caleb Sells said. “She lit us up. LCC does a good job moving the ball around. They got us in the mid-key area; a soft spot in the zone.”
The Red Devils led 18-9 after a quarter and held on from there.
Allison DeBerry paced Centralia with 15 points. Mallory Williams added 11 and Erika Brumfield chipped in eight.
“We did some good things,” Sells said. “It’s been good, since we’re all freshmen, to find out what this team is good at and what we can move forward with next year. We’re going to press like crazy and push the ball more. We just turned it over tonight and missed too many shots.”
Centralia (4-4) hosts Pierce on Friday night in its regular-season finale.
Centralia College took Lower Columbia down to the wire Tuesday night in Longview but came up just short in an 82-78 NWAC West Region men’s basketball loss.
James Harding scored a game-high 32 points, going 12 of 17 from the field with 12 rebounds, to pace Centralia.
Wendell Davis Jr. added 12 points and Jameel Morton chipped in 10 for the Trailblazers.
Harding hit a free throw to tie the game at 73 with 3:16 left to play, but back-to-back jumpers from Lower Columbia’s Cole Hardy put the Red Devils up four. Centralia couldn’t get closer than three points the rest of the way.
Hardy finished with 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting to lead Lower Columbia. Sherman Royal led the Red Devils with 17 and 12 rebounds, Taylor Pomeroy added 14 and Dawson Fritz chipped in 12.
Centralia (2-6) hosts Pierce on Friday to close out the season.
